Roundabout



July 22 1924. 1,502,484

o. F.- OLSON ROUNDAB OUT Filed Feb. 11, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2ShQeLs-Sheet 2 INVENTOR O. F. OLSON July 22 1924.

Filed Feb. 11, i922 Patented July 22, 1924.-

UNITE STTES FICE. I

OSCAR F. OLSON, OF BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

ROUNDABOUT.

Application filed February To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR F. OLsoN a citizen of the United States,residing at Bethlehem, in the county of Northampton and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Roundabouts,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to amusement devices and particularly to devicesfor giving patrons a ride of a novel character.

The principal object is to provide a device of this nature in which avariety of different circular motions may be imparted to the passengercarrying car.

Another object is to produce a novel and efficient means for effectingthese various motions automatically.

Another object is to produce a device of this nature which shall besimple of construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, andhighly efficient for the purpose for which it is intended.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides in certainnovel construction and combination and arrangement of parts, theessential features of which are hereinafter fully described, areparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, and are illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an elevation view of theimproved amusement device- Figure 2'is a vertical sectional view of thesame.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken at right angle to Figure 2.

Figure 1 is a bottom view of the carriage.

Figure 5 is a top view of the carriage.

Figure 6 is a sectional view through the car and carriage.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts in all views.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 10 represents a motor which maybe ofany suitable type for the purpose and which effects operation of a shaft11 carrying a mastergear 12 to which may be carried a plurality ofwheels 13. Each of the wheels 13 is connected to identically similardevices, and only one of these connected devices is shown in thedrawing, and as all are precisely alike only one is here described,although it is to be understood that it-is intended to drive several ofthese devices from a single motor source.

11, 1922. Serial No. 535,841.

A circular track is provided comprising an inner rail 14 and an outerrail 15 and upon these rails are mounted respective Wheels 16 and 17carrying a cage structure which will presently be described. The innerwheel 16 is connected by ashaft 18 with the respective gear 13.

The cage structure comprises a pair of hubs 19 secured to the respectivewheels 16 and 17 and supporting a plurality ofbars 20 which are curvedso that said bars and hubs together form a globular cage, which ridesupon the tracks 14: and 15 and is rotated by means of the shaft 18.

Inside this cage there are provided a pair of circular rails 21 whicharearranged parallel to each other, but at. an angle ,tothe axis ofrotation of said globe which angle is other than a right angle, thepreferred form being an angl of from 10 to 80 from the transverse planof the axis of rotation of the cage. It will be seen that if a carriageis mounted on the tracks 21 and gravity keeps the same at the bottom ofthe cage, then upon rotation of the cage, the car will move in thedirection of the axis of rotation back and forth a distance commensurateto the distance which the tracks are deflected from the transverse plan.

Such a carriage is provided and comprises a base plate 22 inside plates23, the latter carrying bearings for a plurality of wheels 24 which rideon the upper surface of the tracks 21 and a plurality of guide wheels 25which bear against the inner surfaces of tracks 21 so as to prevent thecarriage from slipping from the rails. At the center of the base plate22 there is provided astub shaft 2-6 which extends downwardly from thebase plat and also upwardly therefrom. The downward extension of shaft26 is mounted for rotation in a, bearing formed in a block 27 mountedslidably on a bail 28 which is pivotally mounted concentric with theaxis of rotation of the globular cage.

A passenger car 29 is provided centrally of its bottom with a bearinginto which the upwardly extending portion of shaft 26 extends. The caris also provided on its bottom with a ratchet wheel 30 whereby the car29 may be rotated on the shaft 26 by means which will now be described.

Slidably engaging the bail 28 are channel shaped grips 31 and 32 whichare connected upon respective slides 33 and 34 slidably neunted on I,the base 22 of the carriage. "The block 33 carries on its upper surfacea spring pressed ratchet pawl 35..

Connected to the blecli: or slide 34 is an arm 36 which carries anarcuate rack 37 meshing With a pinion 38 carried by a bracket 39. rack40 depending from a slide block ll mounted'inthe base plate 22. Theslide block. 41 carries on its upper surface a spring pressed ratchetpawl 42, the pawls 35 and 42 both engaging the ratchet Wheel From theconstruction above described, it Will be seen that as the cageisro'tated by means of the motor asn ill be readily understood, thecarriage Will ride along the tracks 21 and owing to the angulararrangeinent of saidtracks Will take a zigzag course moving outwardlyduring one-halt (if the rotation and inwardly during the other half ofthe rotation; This turns the carriage on the axis of shaft 26 and asthe. channel shaped grips 31 and 32 are held constantly in engagementWith the bail 28,

o the carriage Will move relatiigely to the slides aaa'nd 34; therebybringing the ratchet pawls 35 and H 42 into operation on the ratchetWheel 30, the pawl 85 taking effect as the carriage is moved inwardly,and the pawiie taking effect as the carriage moves outwardly. In thismanner there is obtained the following motions: (1) rotation about themotor shaft on the tracks 14 and 15, (2) movement of the carriage fromside to side in the basket rotary movement of the car about the axis 26.Besides, the cage revolving about the carriage and the car gives theeffect to the passenger of "another movement.

' In order to obtain easy access to the car one of the barsao isprovided With'a central joint 43 Which telescopes at one end overtreduced portion of the bar, and isprovided at the other end with a slidelock 44 whereby this section of the barinay be lo ':l ed in place. l r lVllhile I have described What I deem to i he the most desirableembodiments of invention, it is obvious that many of the details may bevaried without in any Way departing from the spirit of my invention, andI therefore do not limit myself to the exact details of constructionherein set forth nor to anything less than the Whole of my [inventionlimited only by' the appended claims.

hat is claimed as new iS !'i 1. An amusement device comprising acircular track, a globular cage mounted for rotation over said track,means for rotating said globular cage, anen'dless track mountedintensely orgsaid ca e at angle to the axis of rotation of said eagatheangle being less than ninety degrees, a car mounted Pinion 738' alsomeshes with 21' f-or backward and forward movement over said track andin the path of said circular track upon rotation of said globular cage.

2. An amusement device comprising a cir cular track, a globular cage,means for mounting said globular cage upon. said track for travelthereon, means for revolving said cage along said track, an endlesstrack encircling the interior of said globular cage at an angle to theaxis of rotation of said globular cage, the angle or" the track beingless than ninety degrees, a carriage mounted Within said globular cageand on said last track, a bail swingingly mounted in said less track,and mov'abl'e laterally Within said cage upon revolving of the same byreason of the angle of said track, a car" rotatably mounted on saidcarriage, and a ratchet means carried by said carriage and operable by aswmgmg member upon rotation of'said globular cage to impart rotation tosaid car.

4, A device of the class descrlbed comprismg aglobular member, means forrotating said globular member, a track secured interiorly' of saidglobular member at an angle Y to the axis of rotation of said globularmember the angle; being less than a right angle, anda carriage mountedon saidtr'acl: and operable thereby for movement inthe direc tion of theaxis of rotation ofsaid globular member. a V

5. A device of the class described comprising a carriage, a "stub shaftmounted on said carriage, a car mounted for rotation on said stub shaft,a bail, and means on said carriage adapted to co-act with said bail forrotating said car;

6. In a device of the'class described the combinationofa globularmember, means for'rotating said globular member, a track securedinteriorly of said globular member, a bail mounted freely concentricwith the axis of rotation of said globular member, a carriage mountedfor movement on said track, a car rotatable on said carriage, and

ratchet means on said carriage and operable by said bail for effectingrotation ofsaid car;

7 In a'device of the class described'comprising a motor, gearing driventhereby, a plurality of shafts driven'by said" gear, a circular track, aplurality of globular members each operable by means of said shafts, totravel along said track, an endless track secured interiorly of saidglobular member at an angle to the axis of rotation of said globularmember the angle being less than ninety degrees, passenger receivingmeans interiorly of said globular members and mounted for movement onsaid endless track upon the rotation of said globular member.

8. In a device of the class described the combination of a motor, ashaft driven by said motor, a globular member rotatable'by said shaft, atrack upon which said globular member is mounted for travel, a tracksupported interiorly of said globular member, a carriage mounted formovement relatively to said track and for movement by said trackrelatively to said globular member, and a car mounted for rotation onsaid carriage and operable by movement of said car= riage as and for thepurpose set forth.

9. A device of the class described c0mprising a circular track, aglobular member mounted for rotation over said track, means for rotatingsaid globular member, an endless track encircling the interior of saidglobular member, a carriage mounted for movement over said lastmentioned track, a car rotatably mounted on said carriage, a bailswingingly mounted within said globular member, and a ratchet means onsaid carriage for co-action with said bail for r0- tating said car uponrotation of said globular member.

signature.

osoan r. OLSON.

